Three Blue Jays in Keith Law’s Top 100 MLB Prospects

Keith Law is working his way through his top 100 MLB prospects (subscription required) and he has three Blue Jays on the list. I’m sure you can guess who they are.

He has Sean Reid-Foley at number 72. Among the things Law said:

Getting a more consistent delivery allowed Reid-Foley to throw strikes, as he cut his walk rate by about half last year, and develop some fastball command. His changeup still lags behind his other two pitches, and he’ll need something to get lefties out in Double-A this year, but there’s No. 2 starter potential here, given his present stuff and command.

Anthony Alford is number 55:

Overall, it was a year to forget, culminating in a fire that destroyed his mother’s house right after Christmas (he set up a Gofundme page to help them rebuild). Alford is still an elite athlete and looked in 2016 like a former football player still adjusting to playing baseball full time.

When healthy, he’s a disciplined hitter for someone so inexperienced, and there’s at least average power to go with plus running speed. His reads in center might just not be good enough for him to stay there, though again, it might be his lack of baseball experience showing. On the whole, it was a sideways year for Alford, but the positive news is he’s healthy and will be the right age (22) for his Double-A debut in 2017.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr is number 48:

While Guerrero has outstanding tools, including surprising speed and projected plus power, it’s his feel for the game that impressed scouts in 2016, as he shows real instincts on both sides of the ball, including that advanced approach and enough feel that he has at least an even-money chance to stay at third. The sky is the limit for young Vladimir, and if he doesn’t outgrow the hot corner, the Jays might have a 30-homer bat who gets on base to take over when Josh Donaldson leaves.

I’d like to have a another year of stats to see is Vlad can repeat his numbers, but it is nice to dream on him. Vlad was number 40 on Law’s list last year.

Alford gets a mulligan for his injury filled season. He was 52 on last year’s list. I hope he has a great spring training, and puts himself in line for a callup if someone gets hurt. He would be the type of player that would be fun to watch.

It is Reid-Foley first time on Law’s list. I was really worried that he was going to be traded off this winter. It seems like that was the way things have been done in the past. I’m hoping we actually get to see Sean pitch for the Jays.

Our own top prospect list will be starting up in the next few days.